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Friday, October 14, 2011

With Maritn Brodeur still nursing a right shoulder injury, Johan Hedberg will get the start in net for the Devils when they take on the Nashville Predators Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.

Brodeur "tweaked" his right shoulder in the first period of Thursday's 2-1 shootout win over Los Angeles. Hedberg took over in net for the start of the second period and stopped all 16 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and then two more in the shootout.

After Saturday, the Devils don't play again until next Friday's home game against San Jose, so Devils coach Pete DeBoer said it makes the most sense to sit out Brodeur Saturday, which would give him a full week to recover.

"If it was a do-or-die situation, I'm sure we might consider something different," DeBoer said. "But it doesn't make sense right now to rush this and Heddy's ready to go and played well. The schedule sets up as -- there's no good time for this to happen, but this is as good a time as there is."

It sounds like the Devils will be calling up a goaltender to dress as Hedberg's backup on Saturday, but Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said "not yet" when I asked him after the team's practice in Nashville this afternoon.

The options would be Keith Kinkaid and Jeff Frazee in Albany (AHL) and Maxime Clermont in Kalamazoo (ECHL).

Although Brodeur made the trip with the team to Nashville, he did not practice today. Goaltending coach Chris Terreri put on the pads and served as the second goaltender for practice.

Brodeur said, "there's a slight chance" he'd be able to back up Saturday, but there would seem to be no point to that.

"I''ve got to see how I'm going to feel," he said. "We have the whole day tomorrow to figure out something. We'll see. I don't want to put myself in a position where I have to play if I'm not 100 percent."

Brodeur's main purpose on the trip is to get treatment on his shoulder from the medical staff.

"That was the best way for me to get treatment with the trainers here," Brodeur said. "Everybody is here, so that was the best way possible."

Brodeur said his shoulder was improved today, but still sore.

"It felt better, but not for me to practice, that's for sure," he said. "It's still pretty sore. There's definitely improvement from yesterday, just like I expected. I kind of hurt it more than I usually tweak it, so the process of getting back to be 100 percent might take a little longer, but I'm happy that it's reacting that way. I would have been worried if it had been a lot more sore, but that's not the case. But it's sore still."

Brodeur's right arm was fully extended as he landed after he dove to make a blocker save on Alex Martinez. He actually had both arms extended, but landed more on his right one.

"When I was 18 years old, I wasn't hurt when I got up, but now with my age...," the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer said, laughing. "But, it's one of these that I have a little discomfort in my shoulder and I tweak it once in a while. It's one of those little things that I have to worry about. This time I just hurt it a little more than I usually do."

Brodeur and the Devils can rest easy with Hedberg ready to step on. He's 2-0-0 so far this season and, though it's very, very early in the season, he leads the NHL with a 1.14 goals-against average and ranks fifth in the league with a .952 save percentage.

With Brodeur missing time with a bruised right elbow and an MCL sprain in his right knee, Hedberg played in 34 games last season. Still, he went into this season not expecting anything as far as a number of games he'll play.

Now, he'll play in at least three of the team's first four games (once in relief).

"It's a long season," Hedberg said. "You never know what's going to happen, so there's no need to make any predictions."

DeBoer had heard good things about Hedberg's personality, work habits, etc. before coming to the Devils and all of that has been confirmed already.

"His reputation around the league as a person, a teammate and a player is really as high as any I've heard sitting in an opposing room." DeBoer said. "I think he comes as advertised. He's just a great guy and a great teammate."

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.